Monarchy

Upon the death of the North Korean leader, his son succeeded him, as he did his father. We assume it is a dictatorship and just write it off as dictatorial rule of what we consider a third world country. When the Queen of England dies or relinquishes her throne her son or a grandson will succeed her. We assume they live in a monarchy and it has always been that way in the United Kingdom. We are fortunate in this country that the same rules of succession don't apply. Wait a minute - we have the Daleys,...

By John Lloyd (Reuters) - Could Prince Charles finally get his crown? And if he does, could it mean the end of the United Kingdom? Abdication in favor of the younger generation seems to be something of a trend in Europe â if two cases can be considered a trend. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated last year so that her son, Willem-Alexander, could bring some youth and vitality to the largely ceremonial role. More recently, King Juan...

LONDON (Reuters) - Half of Britons think the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton has made the monarchy more likeable, a new online survey showed on Friday. Just two days before the April 29th first wedding anniversary of the now named Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, a poll of more than 2,000 Britons by Opinium Research revealed that one in 10 have forgotten their own anniversaries, but three in five believe the royal marriage has boosted national morale. The poll...

By Raquel Castillo MADRID (Reuters) - A divorced former journalist, Letizia Ortiz, became Spain's first commoner queen on Thursday when her husband, Felipe VI, was sworn in as king. With a background contrasting deeply with the royal privileges of her husband, many see in the 41-year-old former TV anchor the survival of the monarchy because of her down-to-earth middle-class roots. Felipe, 46, became king after his father, Juan Carlos, abdicated earlier...

RABAT (Reuters) - Reforms that took the wind out of Arab Spring protests in Morocco last year have proven hollow and real power still lies with King Mohammed and his advisors, the north African country's main opposition group said. The king appointed an Islamist as prime minister last year after holding early elections and instituted constitutional reforms that, on the face of it, limited royal control to military, security and religious affairs. But a recent tour...

VIENNA (Reuters) - Vienna's opulent Schoenbrunn Palace, the former summer residence of the imperial Habsburg family, will open its doors to tourists looking to spend the night like Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Sisi. An apartment - once reserved for close relatives of the court - can be booked from April 30 at a starting price of 699 euros ($960) per person per night. The two-bedroom flat with kitchen and dining room sleeps four. Those looking to experience full imperial...

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's king has pardoned a U.S. citizen who was jailed for two and a half years last December for insulting the monarchy, a case that prompted rare U.S. criticism of its Southeast Asian ally, and calls for it to respect freedom of expression. Thai-born Lerpong Wichaikhammat, 55, also known as Joe Gordon, had pleaded guilty to using the Internet to spread information that insulted the monarchy, charges stemming from material posted on his...

By Sanjeev Miglani and Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Just a few years ago, Nepal's royal family looked consigned to the history books. A palace massacre by an unhinged crown prince in 2001, in which the king and eight members of his family were killed, was followed seven years later by the abolition of the monarchy by a Maoist-dominated special legislative assembly. But the Himalayan nation's political and economic fortunes have dipped...

By William Pfaff, (copyright) 1994, Los Angeles Times Syndicate | October 23, 1994

It is frightening to see a man methodically, if unwittingly, destroy his public reputation. Prince Charles may also have destroyed the British monarchy, but only because he has submitted to the logic of decisions taken by his parents and their advisers. The Prince's collaboration in a biography that provides a whining and self-pitying account of the misfortunes life has dealt him-heir to possibly the world's greatest private fortune as well as to the throne of Britain-is an appalling...

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Nepal started voting on Tuesday to elect a special assembly which will draft a constitution aimed at ending years of political instability after the abolition of the monarchy, but the vote could be split and leave Nepal facing further turmoil. Nepal's neighbours, India and China, have grown increasingly concerned about its prolonged struggle to build a stable republic to replace the centuries old monarchy that was toppled ...

The assault on the British monarchy that recently has been evidenced on the opinion pages of the Tribune as well as other major newspapers betrays many Americans' fundamental misunderstanding of this continuously valuable institution. Those journalists who seek to portray constitutional monarchy as an anachronism will be well served to recall that in 1993 a full 10 sovereign European states with a combined population larger than that of the United States remain monarchies. Among these...

LONDON (Reuters) - The birth of Britain's Prince George has reopened a rift among those campaigning for Scotland to vote for independence next year, playing into the hands of those who want it to retain its 306-year union with England. The "Yes Scotland" campaign says it wants to win a referendum on independence in 2014 and for the country to become fully independent by 2016, shaking off centuries of what it regards as oppressive rule from London. The Scottish...

Cambodian co-Premier Norodom Ranariddh on Tuesday called for a referendum proposal on whether to keep the country's popular monarchy. Prince Ranariddh, son of King Norodom Sihanouk, said he had no immediate designs on the throne but that the Cambodian people should decide the issue. The monarchy question has driven a wedge in Ranariddh's fragile coalition government with co-Premier Hun Sen, who has sought to curb the monarchy's political influence. "We have to organize a...

Vienna's Stadtpalais Liechtenstein, the city palace that launched a revival of Rococo in the mid 19th century, will offer public tours for the first time on Friday after an extensive face-lift. The late 17th century palace was once the main residence of the princely family of Liechtenstein, one of Vienna's richest families considered to be at the cutting edge of art and architecture, before they moved to the tiny Alpine principality. The Baroque building, which was revamped...

Nepalese security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters Saturday, killing two people and wounding at least five as increasingly violent demonstrations against King Gyanendra spread across the Himalayan nation. A threat by authorities to shoot anyone violating curfew spared the capital, Katmandu, further violence after two days of protests, but political parties pledged to renew demonstrations there, raising fears of a deepening crisis as the opposition pressed Nepal's king to restore...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Willem-Alexander became the first king of the Netherlands since 1890 on Tuesday, ascending a throne largely stripped of political power but still invested with enormous symbolic significance for the Dutch people. At his investiture in Amsterdam's 600-year-old Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church, the 46-year-old monarch swore an oath to uphold the Dutch constitution and stressed the need for unity at a time of economic crisis. "I take office in a...

By William Pfaff, (copyright) 1986, Los Angeles Times Syndicate | July 24, 1986

It is hard to find a satisfying explanation for why ordinary people with no link to the principals in the affair should take such an interest in the wedding in London of a rambunctious young naval officer to the red-headed daughter of a professional horseman and retired soldier. The marriage of the young man's older brother, Britain's Prince of Wales, to Lady Diana Spencer, five years ago, was watched on television by one-eighth of the world's population--more people than had...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Queen Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, announced she was abdicating in favor of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander, telling her country it was time to hand the crown to the next generation after more than three decades on the throne. Willem-Alexander, 45, who will be sworn in as king on April 30, is married to Princess Maxima, who comes from Argentina, and has three young children. Decades of grooming for the throne involved shaking off his...